The present invention relates to eyeglasses.
Eyeglasses are of course a well-known expedient to correct defects in the vision of the wearer. Eyeglasses are also used to shield the eyes of the wearer from adverse conditions, particularly bright sunlight.
For users of eyeglasses with corrective lenses, it is not unusual to provide additional auxiliary lenses that can be attached over the lenses of the corrective eyeglasses to provide protection against sunlight. Typically, the auxiliary lens is secured by mechanical clips but difficulty in attaching the clips has led to the adoption of magnetic retention for the auxiliary lens.
In normal use, the auxiliary lens will either be attached to or detached from the primary lens as the ambient light conditions vary. However, in certain situations, such as when driving a vehicle, it is desirable to retain the auxiliary lens on the primary lens even when the auxiliary lens is not required. Mechanical hinge arrangements that allow the auxiliary lens to be xe2x80x9cflipped upxe2x80x9d relative to the primary frame are known and in wide spread use. However, such arrangements require mechanical connection to the primary lens and the provision of a hinge mechanism at the bridge of the frame to allow for the adjustment of the auxiliary lens relative to the primary lens.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate the above disadvantages.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is provided an eyeglass having a primary frame and an auxiliary frame. The frames are secured to one another by interaction of magnetic members on the frames. The frames and magnetic members are configured to be operable to maintain the frames in a first orientation in which the auxiliary frame overlies the primary frame and in a second orientation in which the auxiliary frame is disposed above and away from the optical axis of the lenses of the primary frame.